Neither mother nor daughter knew that the man behind the catcher's mask was Army Lieutenant Colonel Will Adams, who has been stationed in Afghanistan for most of the past two years. They thought he was getting home next Monday, but Will actually arrived home Wednesday and stayed at a hotel to keep the secret devised by the United Service Organizations and the Rays, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Before Alayna threw the ball, a prerecorded video of Will offering good luck played on the Jumbotron. "Stay focused, throw the ball and I love you," the army dad told his daughter, notes Tampa's WTSP.

After the pitch, the man dressed in Rays gear at home plate lifted up his mask. That is when Alayna saw he wasn't an MLB player but her dad, and she ran into his arms.